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I have a major announcement in the upcoming weeks about this journal. For now though, because nothing is properly official I cannot say what it is. Also I do not want to screw it up so it’s all hush hush for now.

Stay tuned and we’ll have some amazing news planned along with some radical changes.

It occurs to me in my pseudo review of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure that, despite my knowledge and fondness for the series I found myself at a loss for what to speak of once I was done summarizing. In turn, when I was thinking about what to speak of this week an outpour of words came when I settled on a particular topic.

With Anime North around the corner (as of this writing) I feel remiss to not speak of something Anime related so close. In turn, I feel like discussing a classic Anime. In the venerated halls of ancient works of Japanese Animation each noted entry is beloved and lambasted within the same breath. People who love the Akira film are confronted with the massive issues it has. People who love Ninja Scroll are told how the work is mostly a pulp action film with little substance. People who love Ghost in the Shell are reminded that the sequel film sucks. People who like Neon Genesis Evangelion are told that they have bad taste. People who like Lone Wolf and Cub are told that no one’s read it.

And then there sits The Fist of the North Star.

YOU GOD DAMN RIGHT IT’S TIME!

To the detractors Fist of the North Star is a proto-shonen action series with too much violence. To the supporters it is a heroic epic that deserves a place on shelves next to the Iliad and Odyssey. Created in 1983 (Hey! I was born then!) by the team of Tetsuo Hara as artist and Buronson as writer.

And if we had a full English translated run of it, we might actually be able to do that.

I can’t accurately say why Fist hasn’t gotten a better reception over here. I argue it’s because many of its anime adaptations are either too dated visually or just weren’t marketed properly against current releases.

Someone tried to have Fist do a manga run during the height of the Naruto years. Guess how that went down.

But those that have found the fan translations of the complete series and read through it are rewarded with a grand epic.

The story follows the journey of Kenshiro, the man with seven scars on his chest. The finger hole scars take the shape of the big dipper in a reference to Kenshiro’s martial art, the titular Fist of the North Star. He wanders a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland without a strong direction. As he does he’s shown the cruelty of humanity in the wake of the fallout as the strong prey upon the weak.

As a contrast, Kenshiro is the mightiest warrior around with his martial art able to kill opponents with a single touch and yet he is a great force of compassion, fighting for those who cannot defend themselves. Along his journey we learn his story and the many, many enemies he has waiting for him along the way.

If Fist has a fault it is that much development of characters is done in flashback, typically after a large amount of exposure has occurred with that character. This typically happens to bring to light reasons behind certain character inconsistencies.

That said, many of these flashback revelations add immeasurable depth to those characters and is largely the reason why so many side mangas of the story exist.

The violence in the story could easily earn the marker of gratuitous but it serves a purpose. In the manga no reservations are held about the brutal conditions humanity must live under in this world. As a result, violent acts are commonplace but displayed as still monstrous. Conversely, Kenshiro returns that violence upon his enemies without hesitation. He only weeps for those fallen who have virtue in this savage wasteland.

Against Kenshiro stand other masters of martial arts and how they’ve chosen to carve out empires in this time. If one looks upon this work without patience, many of the character turns are silly and overdramatic. When taken as being played straight they are strong characters with complex motivations and tightly interwoven backstories. Even if a lot of it is done in post.

The visuals, heavily inspired by the Mad Max films are just, just amazing. I’m not even going to write about it. I’m just going to show you.

Do you even see this kind of work anymore?

Everything is drawn with a meticulous detail that is so consistent that the entire twenty seven volume run’s artwork should be revered. Period.

It is a work where the phrase “To think that I could still shed tears…” holds immeasurable meaning when uttered by the tyrant king Raoh evoking a life of brutish dominion cracked by a single profound moment. I may love Transformers and argue until I die that it holds great gems in its legacy but Fist of the North Star is a work that transcends itself.

It isn’t a work with great nuance and it wouldn’t make sense to be so. The large amounts of violence and the massive moments of expression border on farcical to the eyes of a more cynical audience. Adding nuance would be pointless.

Conversely what might look like a violent action manga on the outset somehow cobbles into an epic of a journey. That can be owed, largely to the constancy of the narrative. There is never a point where life and death struggles do not occur. The world is savage and survival is difficult for the meek. As a result you see people pushed to emotional extremes and the true nature of their character is revealed in these moments.

Against that Kenshiro serves as the judge. Despite his own desires his true purpose is to administer justice in this world. On one hand it’s a shallow reality, on the other it’s an interesting take on the hero slowly coming to terms with his destiny.

And it isn’t portrayed that Kenshiro ever shies away from a moment of conflict, but we do see his regrets often in the loss of lives of the men he respects. He’s known to weep when seeing tragedy.

Which abounds in this setting.

As a result we have a work that reaches a great dramatic height. Its enduring quality allows us the existence of a pure and true epic in an age where such things are met with mockery and cynicism.

While the merit of the work is arguable, the circumstances allowing it to be considered an epic are unique to it. That it could earn that reputation from fans is a testament to those circumstances.

Recently I’ve started reading a Marvel comic; specifically that of Carnage Vs. Deadpool.

While reading that I realized that I was witnessing a transition in the character of the Merc with the Mouth.

A good portion of Deadpool’s personality is that he is a mercenary that would kill probably anyone for the right reason or money. Or both. He’s depicted as a 4th wall breaking loon with a loveable looser quality to him. As a result the majority of the well-known Deadpool stories have him getting into a situation largely of his own fault and getting put through the ringer as a result.

However, recently, I’ve started to notice some shifts as Deapool has changed hands. Typically he toes the line between being a lovable murderer and a complete degenerate by usually being pointed at the bad guys and failing when it came to socializing with (read: fighting) the good guys. Conversely, there are other interpretations.

The most shocking that I saw came from Deadpool Max, where his fourth wall breaking and self-referential humour was shown as the mutterings of a diseased mind frequently exploited by other forces.

Another interpretation, and it’s one I’ve seen more often, is that Deadpool is slowly gaining a moral backbone about things. This is seen in Uncanny X-Force issues 32-35 when he’s shown trying to help the young clone of Apocalypse by stopping the young man from going down a dark path.

This ties into the crossover I’ve mentioned. If you think about it Deadpool and Carnage have a lot in common. They’re both morally bankrupt killers that think what they do is fun. Carnage is openly depicted as evil, through and through without illusion or compromise. Deadpool, during the series gets the idea that because he’s likely as warped as Carnage he can think along similar lines and figure out where Carnage is going.

I’m not sure entirely where the point of Deadpool trying to think like Carnage is going but it is going to an interesting place. The story itself also highlights an interesting development. In the comic’s third issue we see Deadpool tracking Carnage’s kills at a certain point and quickly becoming disgusted with the idea that the two of them are similar. To me that’s an incredibly interesting route to take. But it does highlight the trend I’ve seen of writers giving Deadpool an arc of character growth.

Deadpool, in many ways, is a character based on how you interpret a humorous killer. As such, each writer takes that idea and spins it different ways. That change in character (and in some cases, origin) has been referred to by Deadpool himself on several occasions. However, Deadpool doesn’t exist in a vacuum, the entire Marvel Universe has to deal with him and most of them don’t care for the merc with the mouth, even if we all love him. At that point we see a choice for Marvel. Either have Deadpool become a mad degenerate who can’t function in the reality of the Marvel universe, or… have him grow up a bit.

I’ve got to admit, it’s starting to look like the latter.

In all fairness, it’s a sensible move. It’s one we’ve sort of demanded Spider-Man take but I think it’s quite clear what Marvel’s doing to that poor bastard.

I’d like you all to appreciate the reality that Spider-Man came into existence decades before Deadpool and yet, Deadpool is maturing first. Just let that sink in.

The truth comes from the one hard fact that, unless writers take the effort to mature Deadpool and make his interaction with the Marvel universe become smoother he’s going to slowly be written into a degenerate madman. At that point, he’d basically be Carnage.

Instead, over time we see that Deadpool has limits, specific lines that he refuses to cross when it comes to decisions that he makes. If anything he does doesn’t cross that line it’s clear he’ll do it as long as he enjoys it.

Even if he never could eat that many pancakes.

Oh Deadpool, you can’t eat that many pancakes.

This comes into conflict for fans who know Deadpool as the killer who doesn’t care if he kills the innocent or guilty but it does give him more to work with for writers who wish for him to not operate within a vacuum in the Marvel universe.

The question remains if that growth will remain consistent after this recent crop of writers is done with Deadpool.

Probably not, knowing Marvel.

But it’s nice to see some contrast with him against Carnage. I count that as a win.

There’s certain anime that you point to (if you’re an anime fan) that you use to settle arguments about the quality of the medium. Conversely, there are examples of anime that completely and utterly destroy arguments about anime being a serious art medium.

And then there are the ones that fall right in the middle. These are anime that have interesting and distinct elements with great character moments but also simultaneously have some outrageous shit in them.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is such an anime.

Don’t let the image fool you. Shit gets out there and doesn’t take a map.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure began its run as a manga in 1986 and has continued to this day under the pen of Hiroko Araki. The story has permutated in many ways since its inception but it has never truly permeated the west until recently, despite attempts over the years.

Why is that? A couple of reasons really. Throughout the entirety of the manga run Araki has continually used the titles and names of bands as the names of characters in his manga. This is largely due to his great fondness for western music but, as you can imagine, copyright issues became a massive concern when porting over manga as well as game adaptations. Hence why several character’s names get distorted accordingly.

The other reason is that the manga goes through several different story arcs migrating to new lead characters and story settings despite being set in the same world. Because of that, there is a massive tonal shift each time a new arc starts that crests of the previous one. Thusly each story becomes… well more bizarre then the one that precedes it.

So to say the least, it’s a hard story to jump in on the middle of.

Prior to 2012, the only storyline to receive a anime adaptation was the third story arc Stardust Crusaders, arguably the most popular one of the franchise. Only recently has an anime been conceived that shows the first two arcs of the adventure.

Recently that anime began a sequel season covering the third arc and it isn’t certain if it’ll continue after that. But, because this is a manga that has an ongoing story dating back to 1986, I’m going to focus on the new 2012 anime that covers the first two story arcs of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

For my own sanity at any rate.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure begins in 1880 in England. During a carriage accident the wealthy lord George Joestar loses his wife and almost his newborn son. A man by the name of Dario Brando comes by and attempts to rob it, only to realize that George is still alive. George, realizing what is happening takes pity on the man and convinces Dario that he; George, believes that Dario is here to save him.

As a result George makes a pledge, that he will adopt Dario’s son and raise him along with his own son Jonathon Joestar (or Jojo for short).

It is a promise that condemns human history for one hundred years.

When Dario dies, his son Dio goes to the Joestar manor and begins a calculated campaign to destroy Jonathon’s life and become heir to the Joestar fortune. This includes turning close friends against Jonathon, abusing young women and cooking Jonathon’s dog in a fire.

Jonathon confronts Dio and assaults him. During that exchange Dio realizes that beating Jonathon head on is folly as his spirit is unbreakable and each adversity makes Jonathon stronger.

And that’s when the vampire shit starts. Sort of. Let me explain.

In the background of all of this is an old ritual stone mask belonging to George. During that first fight Dio’s blood strikes the mask causing spikes to come out. Examination of that effect by both Jonathan and Dio (separately mind you) over the next seven years reveals that the spikes will penetrate the human brain if the mask is worn. Both assume it is a mask for ritual sacrifice as a result.

Eventually both boys graduate college and return home. Dio has attempted to poison George and Jonathan has deduced it. In a drunken stupor Dio escapes as Jonathan goes to get evidence. Taking the mask with him Dio experiments on a drunkard only to learn that the mask turns the drunk into a vampire.

Dio barely survives the encounter but is saved by the sun. Heading back to the Joestar manor Jonathan confronts Dio and Dio dons the mask, killing George Joestar. And then shit goes sideways. As in Dio starts climbing walls because he’s a vampire now.

The adventure goes from there, echoing shades of Fist of the North Star as Jonathan learns a martial art to produce sunlight in order to combat Dio. This first arc, titled Phantom Blood ends at episode 9 of the anime and volume 4 of the manga. I will not spoil the final encounter of Dio and Jonathan as it’s something of a powerful moment that I don’t think was truly executed in manga prior or since.

Part two of the manga and 2012 anime is Battle Tendency. Starting fifty years later in 1939 in America Jonathan is long past and his successor to the Jojo name, his grandson Joseph, is a Hamon prodigy and an all-around low brow flirt with a madman’s genius.

Joseph is my favourite character if you hadn’t guessed.

This arc deals with the origin of the mask as Joseph is forced to train his talents in Hamon and engage in a battle for the world with a new breed of vampires, stronger than Dio. Their names are Wam, AC/DC and Cars.

Not even going to make that up.

As I said there’s a lot to compare the anime to that of Fist of the North Star, especially the Battle Tendency arc and that includes visuals and villain motivations. What makes the story unique is that of how vampires are used in their traditional fashion as horror creatures (especially in Phantom Blood) juxtaposed against the heroic anime protagonist archetype. Thusly you have the unique effect of having heroic moments buffeted and reinforced with classic horror tragedy. It’s surprisingly effective.

Of the characters Jonathan Joestar is an ideal hero. He is noble, selfless, and well mannered. He is considered such a great spirit that bitter thieves become beloved friends and his tenacity earns the respect of his enemies. Even in battling the vampire Dio Jonathan is filled with regret at fighting someone he grew up with. He remains a character of great dignity and nobility throughout his story arc.

Joseph inherits the Joestar trait of righteous indignation against evil and tenacity in battle that triumphs over evil. Conversely he’s a genius that loves to fight dirty to win. In his first battle with a vampire he pulls a tommy gun and covers the vampire in grenades.

He also tries to sneak into a Nazi base disguised as a woman. His failure is a blow to his self-esteem.

Not enough tequila in the world Joseph.

And then there’s Dio. As cruel as a petty child with a genius mind to boot. Despite his assertions of his superiority Dio delights in wreaking pain upon anyone he considers his inferior. Which is anyone who isn’t Dio. In fact, I think if he met another Dio he’d hate that Dio too for trying to imitate perfection. For Dio cruelty is the bonus for the way he conducts himself for victory.

Conversely the three elevated vampires (Cars, Wam and AC/DC) that fight Joesph, consider humanity little more than insects by comparison and view the murder of a human akin to stepping on an ant. Only Joseph really earns their respect and attention, at which point they view fighting him much like a cat playing with a mouse.

There are a host of other characters worth mentioning but length prohibits what I can say, (that includes talking about Lisa Lisa, the queen of cold hard badass and Joseph’s teacher). Especially when I have to address the visual style and movement of the characters. The first two arcs represented in the anime reflect the manga’s Fist of the North Star influence. What sets it apart is largely character posture which continues to be a presence as Araki developed his own artistic style.

Rather than have strong defiant stances, Araki’s protagonists are often caught in fluid transition moments or wavy poses displaying their flexibility. As such there’s a heavy implication in both the manga and the anime that Araki’s true vision of movement for the characters is one well beyond conventional means to animate.

The series overall is one of great interest, especially if one has an appreciation for classic manga storytelling conventions of epic heroes and such. If that’s within your disposition it’s well worth the viewing.

You know I’d like to search the internet for Pathfinder just once and not have the shitty film come up.

I’ve been contemplating writing about the Pathfinder system for some time on this journal but find myself at a loss for what to say.

Now, on the surface that’s weird considering I’ve spent more money on that RPG system than any other I’ve owned, I run a weekly session in that same system using a full six part adventure path module and it is the top selling pen and paper RPG system being the first (if I’m not mistaken) to knock Dungeons and Dragons from the throne.

Kneel peons!

So why don’t I know where to start?

Well, let’s try some history.

Pathfinder is, largely, the result of the massive split in the RPG community when Dungeons and Dragons created a 4th edition of their own rules. 4th Edition was designed to be more welcoming to new players and did so by simplifying many of the rules, boiling down the classes to being virtually identical, and generally pissing away a lot of goodwill.

They also, literally, scorched earthed the Forgotten Realms, arguably one of their most iconic settings.

So there was some bad blood all around the park.

At that time a publishing group known as Paizo had a pair of magazines called Dungeon and Dragon. When 4th Edition was announced Paizo had the inside track on what the new system was and decided to take a look at the old 3.5 edition rules.

I can’t define the ambition and madness that was required for Paizo do to what they did.

You see Dungeons and Dragons had something called the Open Gaming License. In essence this allowed people who weren’t Wizards of the Coast (the makers of Dungeons and Dragons) to produce supplements and materials with their rules system without requiring Wizards to publish it.

There is more here and it requires a lot of legalese to understand it all fully.

Now the Open Gaming License (OGL) as it exists applied purely to all iterations of 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons. Back in the day it basically amounted to some second hand supplements. Some shitty, some great.

But when Wizards created the equivalent for 4th edition known as the Gaming System License. Many found it to be more restrictive then the OGL.

Paizo, at that time got the idea to stop running their two long time magazine publications and not only start publishing adventures for the now defunct 3.5 Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, but also create a new system that took the 3.5 rules and fixed the classes, core mechanics, overall problems with the system in general and let the entire internet have it for free.

That last part has no freaking embellishment on it.

You see, to ensure they were doing the best possible improvement of the 3.5 rules they handed all of their tested work to the internet and challenged the myriad of D&D fans online (many of whom we can assume were raging about 4th) to break their rules and help improve the system.

What came back was created into the Pathfinder RPG as we know it today.

To this day a good portion of the core books are online in their entirety. Which, you can argue, goes a long way to discourage piracy.

Cause… you know… it’s just right there.

Also it takes a weight off of player groups who require access to the rules but don’t want to shell out the funds for individual copies of the Pathfinder core book and all supplemental core books.

It’s worth noting that Pathfinder’s first published products weren’t the core rules but the adventure modules instead. Since their inception Pathfinder has created series of six modules of a story arc allowing players to take characters from creation to around level seventeen or so. Each of these six part modules is set in the world of Golarion, also known as the Inner Sea. From what I’ve gathered, each one is set in a different area within that world and, thus, takes on a different known fantasy setting.

As a result the idea is to give the players as much variety as possible when choosing a set of modules or when going from one module set to the next if you are a subscriber. They’ve done the traditional fantasy adventure, gothic horror, Winter Fey, Egyptian Mummies, Arabian fables, Pirates and Giant Robots.

Correction, the storyline with the Giant Robots is forthcoming.

And I will buy it. Because I am weak.

This is in addition to the single modules which anyone can pick up and play and the Pathfinder Society which run long seasons of adventures.

So why is Pathfinder such a success?

Pathfinder, I think, did a bunch of right things at the right time. As RPGs are now there is a massive overflow of simple RPG systems running around in the market. These are systems designed for open ended roleplaying and to minimalize the need for stats and dice rolls and focus more on roleplaying. Now that’s perfectly fine, it’s always good to have those systems to introduce new players and encourage imaginative world and character building. At the same time there is now a deficit of strong rules systems which hurts a lot of long time players as well as players looking for a system with more meat in it. And since the Pathfinder corebook is basically an inch thick you can’t get more meat then that.

Delicious, delicious meat.

On top of that it allowed a lot of classic Dungeons and Dragons players a modern system to take a lot of their old adventures as the world of Golarion is not a mandatory part of the system. In fact there are a lot of rules in place to help players make their own worlds and setting within the corebook as well as supplements.

So those are all good reasons why everyone else likes it. Why do I?

I considered myself, for the longest time, part of the demographic of RPG players who hated heavy rules systems and preferred books that allowed more versatility in roleplaying. I had a few Dungeons and Dragons experiences and they were all bad, by and large.

The thing I’ve come to enjoy that it’s incorporated a modular and adaptable rules design. If you take the core rulebook, you have enough within to run any variety of campaigns. The additional rules and even the setting are set up as optional add-ons to be used as you require. I love that modular nature and I’ve always felt that RPGs need to strongly highlight just how well they implement that.

I like the fact that each Pathfinder class is designed with something new for the player to use at each level, thus making it feel much more rewarding when you do so, especially at higher levels.

On top of that, I’ve found at least three of the adventure paths that I legitimately want to own. Granted one is a pirate one and one has giant robots but that still leaves one that doesn’t play to my immediate biases.

And I think a lot of it is because of the fact that I see so many new players now who have so little confidence in themselves. They don’t seem to think they can wrap their heads around a large, heavy rules system and that’s just not the case. I’ve seen too many players get sucked into a bad RPG system like the Marvel Heroic RPG or, in many cases, 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons because they’ve convinced themselves that they don’t have what it takes to handle something more.

I really think that’s not right.

Despite whatever stereotypes exist about the more extreme RPG systems out there it really boils down to having a good, understanding GM and a group of players that synch up well. People shouldn’t be afraid of something like Pathfinder just because it might be more then they can handle. In the end, there is something to just having a well-made system that you run with friends. At that point it isn’t about the fear of death or the rules.

There’s a large consortium now of web journalists that are quite fixated on pushing any work that might feature a female protagonist to the forefront of human awareness. This is a process with which I have no strong objections or opinions because I know better than to shake that hornet’s nest. Or even look at it really.

That being said, in the rush for the modern works with well-developed female characters, I think we’re not reflecting on past works that also have strong, well-written, female characters. If for nothing else then to appreciate that there is a legacy to this sort of thing.

In the spirit of that, if I had to pick just one book that had my favourite female character, then there’s only one choice.

No it isn’t The Last Unicorn.

Here we have an image from the internet as my copy is dog eared beyond belief.

Originally published in 1991, the Elvenbane was written by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey, two veteran writers in their own right. The premise is that humanity, in a fantasy setting of course, is ruled over by Elves who have since forced them into submission. As a result humans form little more than slaves living short, blunted lives in the wake of their Elven masters.

The story opens with one human slave, a concubine named Serina Daeth. As the favoured concubine of her particular master Lord Dryan we find her wandering a vast desert in an effort to survive. She’s run away because she’s recently become pregnant with her master’s child due to the sabotage of another concubine. Since half-elf children are, as you can imagine, not allowed Serina escaped her home to save her own life.

The opening uses Serina’s own flashbacks to help set the world as it’s ruled by the Elven courts as well as the politics and personalities within. Serina has nothing but disdain for her child throughout all of this and is simply planning for a way to get her life back. On her journey she catches the attention of a nearby female dragon named Alamarana. Alamarana manages to change her own appearance and assist Serina as she gives birth to a girl, though Serina does not survive childbirth herself.

Alamarana, Alara for short, decides to raise the child as her own rather than simply let the little girl die. Taking the child back to her home she’s met with opposition from other dragons. This is because they’ve chosen to live apart from the other races and fear what would happen if the child grew and eventually let the other species know that Dragons even exist. The matter is soon closed as Alara convinces the others to let her raise her new halfbreed daughter Lashana. Shana for short.

During this time we learn that there is a prophecy that a Halfblood will rise and become the symbol of liberty for all races against the Elven lords, a being known as the Elvenbane. In nearly the same page we also learn that it’s mostly used by dragons for their own amusement and revision, pulling a nice subversion on the idea of such prophecy. As Shana grows throughout her adventures in the book she quickly finds herself fulfilling that prophesied role.

I’ve enjoyed this book repeatedly throughout my life and it sits quite warmly in my top five books. Despite many of the more mature subjects covered in the novel it does strongly read like a young adult work.

In the several times I’ve reread it I found its two strengths are in the how distinct each character is and just how well the world is presented to the audience. Central to that is the character of Shana. Shana is perpetually depicted as an outcast in any situation she finds herself. I’ve always liked Shana for the sheer amount of mistakes she makes on her journey. I say that because the book openly acknowledges the consequences of what she’s done and she is forced to as well. There’s a great effort to show her growing up as a teenage girl in these circumstances and how such an experience develops her personality.

As the book progresses she finds herself commenting on differing lifestyles and we notice that among each of the races (dragons, elves and eventually half-breeds) there’s an issue of a sedentary lifestyle and becoming obsessed with one’s possessions and security over values. It’s the underlying commentary of the book in reality. It’s why the book appears to be a young adult novel at a glance. Despite the number of adults that sympathize and work with Shana, her and her adoptive brother Keman (a dragon) are clearly the focus and the book takes their perspective and side in most instances.

I’m at a loss to say how good the novel truly is in a timeless sense. The writing, character distinction and world building is absolutely flawless but I can appreciate where the focus on a youth’s perspective deters readers. I’ll certainly pass it on to my own children but I question that it would find as strong a purchase in an audience that’s already long past their own adolescence.

Despite my education it seems I’ve sorely missed that period where one discusses the themes and nature of Cyrano De Bergerac.

As a result I’ve been often hesitant to ever approach a subject a discussion for fear that my analysis would be considered obvious and therefore trite. But, the subject of Cyrano is something quite dear to my heart both as a writer and as a man. So I will this once request this of you, my audience, that if my arguments seem obvious, if I have tread common ground then please grant me a look at some alternate interpretations of the character.

For this, to illustrate my points I will focus on the 1950 depiction in the film of course titled, Cyrano De Bergerac, where Cyrano is played by Jose Ferrer. This is specifically because it takes great care to highlight certain inconsistencies in Cyrano and his view of the world.

Of course, for all the rest of you who’ve had no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll explain.

Cyrano De Bergerac was an actual historical figure. He was a noted dramatist and duellist in his time. He is noted for having a large nose in fictional depictions of himself and portraits would adhere to that (though not to the scale of the fictional works). The play and subsequent adaptations thereof speak of his life in largely broad strokes with grand dramatizations. So from here on out, if you wish to do a comparison of the real Cyrano to the fictitious one I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere.

The play depicts Cyrano as a passionate, headstrong man. Conversely his writing is without peer and his swordsmanship is unparalleled. The story has him, by his brash nature, earning fights with many people several of which leads to deaths by his hands. During this time we learn of his great affection for his cousin Roxanne.

They’re French. Just go with it.

We also learn that this is something that has likely started in their youth. Cyrano has never made the effort to express these feelings as he feels his own unusual appearance; that of his large nose, denies him any chance at true love. He eventually comes across a young man named Christian who is also in love with Roxanne. Cyrano comes to the conclusion that he can feed Christian the words needed to woo Roxanne and thusly at least one good man will love her.

This is done frequently though letters and then in the infamous balcony scene (one I would argue is a parody of Romeo and Juliet but I’m not at that point yet) where Cyrano takes over for Christian, wooing Roxanne with his own voice.

Then Roxanne and Christian get married because shenanigans ensue.

Just go with it okay? Do you really want to read a ten page journal entry?

Anyway things boil to a head when Christian and Cyrano are at war. With Spain! Christian learns that Cyrano has sent Roxanne letters of love daily in Christian’s place despite the immense danger in doing so. He also conversely learns that Roxanne condemns herself for loving Christian at first for his appearance and not the beauty in his soul. Christian would rather be loved for the man he is then what Cyrano portrays him to be and vows to tell Roxanne. Of course, he gets shot within minutes of this decision and dies.

Because heaven forbid we have a sensible conclusion to this situation.

Cyrano decides not to tell Roxanne the truth and for about fourteen years she lives at a convent mourning Christian and Cyrano visits her weekly. This continues until one day he takes a fatal blow to the head and, ignoring physician’s orders, goes to visit Roxanne. In his state he lets slip his secret and she learns the truth.

Only for him to hallucinate and die shortly after.

So, bottle summary is over. Let’s look at the man with the rudder for a nose.

Cyrano is, right from the outset, obsessed with the concept of dramatic storytelling. In every interaction and stretch of dialogue he’s shown as less a man and more a character on the stage. I look at this a couple of ways. First, Cyrano pushes himself to his physical and intellectual limits constantly, in many ways this can be seen as an act in defiance of his own physical deformity. He gives away his money to seem cavalier; he denies himself offered food to appear strong. Above all else is his constant reference to his Panache, a white plumed feather upon his hat. It is the symbol of his flamboyant nature, his courage, and all that he values within himself and strives to embody.

At the same time, in the 1950 film especially, we see flaws in Cyrano’s own view of the world. When he first kills a man in a duel in the start of the film, he starts the duel being comical, waxing romantic and actually writing a ballade about the fight as he fights it. But then when he finally strikes a fatal blow the film goes silent as if the romanticism of the act has departed and Cyrano is left with little more than the body of a bloodied man on his hands.

Shortly after a woman offers him food but he refuses. She’s openly shown as caring for him and quite easily having romantic feelings. He ignores this, despite his own friends pointing out that he is a considerable man and that his own feelings about his romantic possibilities are probably wrong. At the same time though, this lifestyle of adventure, despite the peril it pulls him into, earns him great respect from others and thus validates that lifestyle.

In reality, it’s only Christian that ever truly tests the ideals of Cyrano. He openly comments on the flaws of their plans, wants more from his relationship with Roxanne than Cyrano dares and in the end admits that he wants to be loved for whom he is rather then a false ideal.

Cyrano’s obsession with his own panache has often led to the criticism that he was never truly in love with Roxanne but rather the idea of her created in his own head out of the kindness she shows him. In the several versions I’ve heard I’ve not heard him ever speak of her features (aside from broad strokes about beauty) or aspects of her personality, only that he loves her and how he loves her.

Even in the end, rather than spending his final moments in her arms he has one last dramatic monologue. When she’s at his knees proclaiming her love he is mostly dismissive of it, stating how it does not alleviate his own ugliness. He only asks that she only think well of him. And then he raises taking up the role of the warrior, battling what he perceives as his vices. In the end he does not praise the fact that he has at last found love, only that his Panache is left uncompromised.

Something that, in the end may not be a virtue after all.

In choosing a dramatic life Cyrano has earned a dramatic death, brought on by his refusal to compromise his own self-view. It is almost as if this were a warning to so many young men with artistic souls. It warns to not follow in Cyrano’s footsteps but in Christian’s (aside from getting shot, obviously) and to not compromise in the means by which one attains love. To try and if one fails, to move on and not allow passions to overcome reason.